Work & commute · Oakley

Work & commute in Oakley, KS

About one in 3 of Oakley’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Oakley (36%), Colby (8%) and Winona (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

39%

379 of 974 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 595 Oakley residents head out of town to work, 379 work right here, and 644 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oakley.

595live here, work elsewhere

379live and work here

644work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oakley goes to work

Oakley6.7 mi away

36%353

Colby25.9 mi away

8%78

Winona18.6 mi away

5%53

Winona19.5 mi away

3%28

Hays84.6 mi away

3%28

Oakley (in town)right here

3%26

Grinnell11.5 mi away

2%24

Wichita212.8 mi away

2%16

Smith28.3 mi away

2%15

Garden City72.9 mi away

1%13

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%340

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Oakley commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

41%

17%

13%

29%

41%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oakley is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oakley are

1,023 jobs are based in Oakley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oakley

1,023 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Oakley residents hold

974 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−19%

Jobs based in Oakley, 2013 → 2023: 1,261 → 1,023. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.